That’s the way the cookie crumbles: Girls scouts commit to cookies and community service
Going to the grocery story in January, it is hard to miss the groups of Girl Scouts outside eager to sell their boxes of cookies. However, Girl Scouts do much more than just sell cookies.
Rebecca Gabra, sophomore, has been a Girl Scout for ten years, starting as a Daisy and working her way up to the Senior level. “It’s definitely more serious and it’s not as (much) arts and crafts,” Gabra said. “We’re growing up and this is what we have to do and we have to be super serious about it.”
At the Senior level, scouts are tasked with completing a journey, which requires them to earn multiple badges and complete their own specific community service project. In addition, many girls choose to further pursue community service by doing Bronze, Silver, and Gold Award projects.
For seniors earning a Gold Award, they must come up with a community service project that will take at least 80 hours to complete and be sustainable long after the girl has completed it.
“My plan for my Gold Award is to bring awareness to dogs that have been abandoned by people,” Gabra said. “I’m going to set up a fundraiser day and … there’s going to be a vet coming in and he’s going to talk about basic pet education and treatment of dogs and what you should and shouldn’t do and what’s going on behind the scenes in shelters.”
After going through the long application process and having her project approved, Gabra is working to add on to her project so that she can improve the lives of dogs in shelters years after her direct involvement has ended.
Seva Patel, sophomore, is also working towards a Gold Award. “I definitely want to finish my Gold Award if I can, and I want to become an ambassador,” Patel said. Ambassador, the highest level of Girl Scouts, opens opportunities for scholarships, global service projects, and the continuation of Gold Awards and journeys.
Molly Irelan, senior, has been participating in Girl Scouts since third grade, and has seen many Girl Scout members miss out on the organization’s many opportunities because they left before fully experiencing the program.
“A lot of people may have quit because they just wanted to be ‘cool’ (especially) in middle school: you’re really insecure and aren’t sure what’s cool (and) what’s not,” Irelan said, “but I think it’s a really rewarding program.”
With the money raised from selling cookies, girl scouts are able to take part in many community service projects to help those in need. “During Christmas we do adopt a family…and we wrap the presents for the family and give (the presents) to them,” Irelan said. “We also do different drives like toiletries or canned food.”
Girl Scouts also spend their time mentoring younger girls. “We do different workshops and help them earn badges, so it’s a lot of working with the younger troops,” Irelan said.
Gabra also works with younger girls and knows the importance of having someone to look up to as a young girl. “We have seventh graders and eighth graders in our troop and so as seniors we have to be a role model and show them what we’ve done and how they can follow in our footsteps,” Gabra said. “I wish more people knew how, not only happy we make other people, but how happy we feel when we’re working towards a goal, achieving a goal, and how fun it actually is.”
Photo from Seva Patel/With Permission
